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Macaron Tutorial

Sunday, March 11, 2007

People think I am crazy when I tell them how I relax on the weekends....I knead dough, I watch yeast proof and bubble, I covet the rising of my loaves and delight in the smell pervading through the house. The week has been strange and hectic as I mentionned a couple of days ago and yet the only way I know to relax and recover from it is by making breakfast treats for us or the neighbors. I have got scones in the oven as we speak and we just devoured a half of this beautiful cream cheese braid you see up there.

It seems that I have done a lot more bread baking than actual dessert making this week but what you don't see is the behind the scene...There was a couple of birthday cakes, a French croquembouche for a wedding rehearsal and a whole lot of chocolate making. Granted some weeks my kitchen ressembles more a bakery than a restaurant but I am ready for a change with a couple of greatevents that are coming up. I also have to confess that the weather has been so nice that I have been caught playing outside when I should have been doing more adult chores (paying bills, cleaning, etc...no fun!)

What is special about this braid...? The cream cheese replaces most of the butter and leaves you with a very soft dough, very creamy without being over the top. The same dough can be the base of multiple variations and I usually do a hazelnut or almond filling alonside this one because it seems that one is never enough!

The inspiration to replace the butter with the cream cheese came from this recipe. The Fresh Loaf is a mine of knowledge and ressources for novice or advanced bakers and this blueberry braid filled with all that creamy goodness made me want to incorporate the cream cheese in the dough to see if the flavor would mellow through it and if the dough would be nice and soft as a pillow. I also have to say that I was getting a little lazy with the whole rolling, spreading the cheese inside, braiding, etc... thus dumping the cheese in the Kitchen Aid alongside the butter. It worked one night and I never looked back!

For the sponge: mix the sugar, yeast, and flour together in bowl. Pour in the warm milk. Beat until smooth, then cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 1/2 hour.Add the eggs, salt, sugar, and one cup of the flour to the sponge. Beat until smooth. Then add the cream cheese and butter in small chunks and beat well. Add the remaining flour a handful at a time and mix in until you get a soft dough.Knead the dough by hand or with a mixer about 5 minutes.Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise and room temperature until doubled in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Deflate the dough, recover the bowl, and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, take the dough out of the fridge, deflate and divide in 2 equal pieces. For the braid, I divide one piece in too and twist them together (so not exactly the conventional braid, but at this point I can't wait any longer!!). Place it on parchment paper lined baking sheet, allow to rise 45 minutes, brush with some egg was and bake at 375 for 20- 25 minutes.

Take out of the oven, and while it cools a little, prepare the glaze. Add enough milk to the powdered sugar and melted butter to make a soft spreadable glaze and our all that goodness on your braid...and go ahead and eat because after all that you really deserve it!

Do the same for the other braid, or roll out into a rectangle and fill with your avorite filling and braid it according to the recipe on the Fresh Loaf. The details are great and you can't mess up, makes me wish I ad blueberries left because I have the other loaf awaiting its fate in the fridge...

Hehe, I often get the same reaction. People say, "What? You bake bread? But isn't that, like, a lot of WORK?" They don't understand how amazingly relaxing it us for us to work with our hands, inhale the sweet scents of the kitchen, then indulge our tastebuds and share with our loved ones. Heaven!

Helen,i just read about the fresh loaf in my newspaper, and it ran the article about no-knead bread. your dish always look very delish! i don't always bake on sundays, but when i do that means i won't go anywhere for the day!

Thank you for the kind words, Helene. And I cannot wait to try this recipe. I think I'm going to take your cream cheese dough recipe and add the blueberry and cream cheese filling that was featured in the original recipe at The Fresh Loaf. Hopefully, it will turn out great! We'll see, anyway. LOL

Wow. I have made my bread a couple of times but since I'm back in the city I don't feel like doing it anymore. I don't have a stand-up mixer so the whole kneading process has to be made by hand....which I don't like at all. But this brioche really got me interested and I might test it.....who knows.